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Washington BladeJanuary 12, 2007Debi Hartmann is working with gay activists and Democratic leaders in Hawaii to enact civil unions. The move represents a stark change for Hartmann, who once led Hawaii's Future Today, a conservative group of Mormons, Catholics and others who opposed gay unions. "Real people live real lives," she said. "We need to realize that our neighbors are our friends, and they are being left out of a whole social process that we have taken for granted." [Link]

Springfield News-LeaderJanuary 10, 2007There's a lot about King's legacy that we can pretend we all agree on. That's nice. But fake unity never does anybody any good. And we should remember that King said injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. [Link]

Good As You January 8, 2007 It's almost as if Ms. LaRue had some sort of a recent "Eureka!" moment in which she decided that "bisexuality=polygamy" would be the ace in the hole that would vault her side's anti-gay marriage argument to new heights. Unfortunately for her, it really only exposes yet another fundamental flaw in our opposition's thought process, as well their willingness to say absolutely ANYTHING is they feel it will garner them more support. It seems completely absurd to us that someone like Jan LaRue, a legally-trained person who meticulously studies the gay rights movement, could honestly think that bisexuals need to have a partner of each sex in order to fulfill their orientation! [Link]

The Anchorage Daily NewsJanuary 4, 2007Seven years of litigation finally came to an end with the state's acquiescence to the Supreme Court's order that it offer employment benefits to the partners of same-sex employees. Unfortunately, Gov. Sarah Palin also signed the legislature's ill-conceived bill to convene a special election in April in order to ask citizens whether they want a further constitutional amendment adopted to prohibit public employers from offering such benefits. To adopt such an amendment would be the worst kind of step backward. (Link)

247Gay.comDecember 31, 2006Retiring Republican Arizona Rep. Jim Kolbe says the GOP's opposition to same-sex marriage is "a terrible mistake" and that opposition to the unions is on the decline. Kolbe, who is stepping down after 22 years in Congress, told the Tucson Citizen his party has given too much power over its direction to social conservatives. [Link]

OpEd NewsDecember 30, 2006There is nothing that the GLBT community can do to appease its opponents except, perhaps, disappear. But in one of the exit polls in the 2004 presidential election that got the least attention, 60 percent of voters favor either marriage equality or civil unions. The younger the voters, the more likely they are to favor marriage. To me, that is reason enough to fight for marriage equality instead of civil unions. [link]

New York Times December 28, 2006A Kansas woman was moved to come out to fight a discriminatory anti-gay marriage amendment. She then found that the more she opened herself up, the more she found solace. The day after the amendment passed, her handyman, a Rush Limbaugh fan who came to install her air conditioner, expressed his sympathies. "He came upstairs and said 'I'm just so sorry, Cyd, I know how hard you worked on this,'" she said. "He put his arm around me and it was just about as touching a thing that happened around this whole issue." [Link]

The American MuslimDecember 11, 2006Today, some Muslims are content with civil-union bans because they identify with certain values of these restrictions and because they do not see such a ban largely affecting their communities. However, tomorrow could be a day where the government, under the same authority, bans Hijab. Reflecting a trend from European countries, many Americans could proclaim that they distrust Hijab and feel that it is oppressive towards women. Regardless of how we as Muslims feel, the argument could be made that aspects of our lifestyle contradict some values of the American majority. In the same way those seeking civil unions are struggling at this moment, our lifestyle could also be subject to a legal popularity contest. What will we do then? [Link]

Blue JerseyDecember 11, 2006After the elections, I had been thinking about the NJ Supreme Court's decision on same-sex couples, and wanted to do something for equality. I wasn't quite sure what I — a straight political junkie kid — had to offer... One of the things we felt we could address is how the netroots talks about marriage. Often, we ignore the substance of the issue to discuss the politics — how the right uses it as a distraction, how silly their attacks are, and what's the best way for candidates to approach the issue. In doing so, it makes us think marriage is being discussed, but it's really not. [Link]